Piper Davis
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Piper Davis commented on Re: Is climate change a human rights issue? on January 16, 2008, 6:17 PM
In regards to the concern about "cheapening the concept of rights," it is important to be sure that we are not confusing the question of HUMAN rights with the question of CIVIL rights. The question of whether every individual has an innate right to face an equal amount of risk from the physical environment is not the same as the question of whether and how a government should provide this protection for its citizens. This is not to argue that governmental protection of human rights is not necessary or desirable, but simply to assert that the two questions are not interchangeable, and therefore that concerns about practical application of policy need not interfere with the question of what is or is not a human right.
Piper Davis commented on Re: Is climate change a human rights issue? on January 16, 2008, 11:17 PM
In regards to the concern about "cheapening the concept of rights," it is important to be sure that we are not confusing the question of HUMAN rights with the question of CIVIL rights. The question of whether every individual has an innate right to face an equal amount of risk from the physical environment is not the same as the question of whether and how a government should provide this protection for its citizens. This is not to argue that governmental protection of human rights is not necessary or desirable, but simply to assert that the two questions are not interchangeable, and therefore that concerns about practical application of policy need not interfere with the question of what is or is not a human right.